Darkness or Light?
by Madame Da Vinci
Summary: The Dark Lord has risen again and the wizarding world prepares itself for a war unlike any other. Harry Potter and his friends learn that treachery comes in many forms. Friendships will be tested, lives will be lost and lessons will be learned. This war will cost everyone in ways that they did not expect. Slight Dumbledore bashing. Takes place at the end of Order of the Phoenix
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. This is purely a work of fiction. All rights belong to JK Rowling**

 **Prologue** ( Night of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries)

 _Malfoy Manor_

Silence reigned throughout the room. The air thick with tension and fear. On bended knees with eyes cast down, the Dark Lords followers waited for the inevitable. They had failed. The Potter boy had destroyed the prophecy. Even worse they had been bested by mere children. And Lucius had been captured. Destroying any chance he had of both regaining Voldemorts favor and continuing to influence the Ministry from within. The door to the great hall swung open, all but cracking the walls with the force. The force of the Dark Lords entrance was in strange contrast with his demeanor. His reptilian features devoid of all emotion. Voldemort practically glided across the floor toward a throne like chair in the center of the room. No one spoke they barely breathed. What would he say? What would he do? The Dark Lord's temper was legendary. He wasn't above turning his wand on those who displeased him, be they friend or foe.

Voldemort sat watching them all with the cool perception of a predator. His eyes missed nothing, they all knelt before him like naughty children before their parents. _What to do?_ he thought. On one hand he could make an example of one of them. Show them the price of failure. He scanned the group until his eye fell on a woman pale as death. Narcissa Malfoy. Her death would certainly send a message to that fool Lucius. " _Nagini come"_ he hissed in parseltongue. The great snake slithered across the floor, gliding through the throng of people. Voldemort smirked as he saw fear contort the faces of some of his followers. He had threatened on more than one occasion to feed them to Nagini should they fail him. " _Yes master"_ said Nagini as she settled at her Lords feet. " _What do you say to a little dinner, I've a mind to let you have Narcissa, to teach Lucius a lesson. A pity her son isn't here, he would be a far better candidate. Not to mention you like the sweet flesh of the young ones"_ he replied. Nagini turned her head to eye the woman. She was slim but smelled succulent. Even better her blood pumped faster with fear. Nagini like her meat fresh as possible. Lately she'd had to content herself with the near rancid meat of those who had been long dead. It had been months since she'd enjoyed the decadence of a still beating heart. Flesh still warm and tender. Her mouth was salivating with want " _Yes my Lord I would enjoy that very much"_ as she eyed her potential meal.

But on the other hand thought Voldemort. However unintentional , those imbeciles have revealed to me how to defeat the Potter boy. And indeed the rest of the Order as well. And the true marvel was that it would be far simpler than he had originally deduced. A scream tore him from his musings. Nagini unable to resist had the allure, had slithered toward Narcissa mouth agape. " _Stop Nagini, I didn't give you permission. And in any event I have decided on a different approach. Control yourself_ he commanded. Nagini hissed with frustration. _" Peace my friend, soon you will have all the fresh meat your dark heart desires"_ he soothed. Decision made the Dark Lord rose from his seat. " Rise my friends, be at peace". Slowly his followers rose, a strange mix of relief and apprehension filled their hearts. Was this some sort of trick? A ploy to allow them a moments peace before taking it away. But none were brave enough to dare question their Lord. " I see you all wonder why I am not more displeased. I confess it would have been to my advantage to attain the prophecy first, but its destruction is of little matter now. I suspect it would only reveal what I already suspected. That Harry Potter's fate and my own are entwined in such a way that neither of us can survive so long as the other lives. Until such a time as one of us is defeated, we will remain in eternal conflict" the Dark Lord confessed. For a moment all were silent then one woman dared comment " My Lord, why then are you so calm, should you not want the Potter boy dead now more than ever". Eyeing the woman contemptuously " Indeed Bellatrix, my motive in **that** regard is unchanged, only the path I will take to achieve it has altered". " The path my Lord" said Dolohov. " Yes, while your failure has certainly displeased me, it has also allowed me to see that which I have been blind to" he replied.

Bellatrix looked stunned, surely her Lord was not admitting to being wrong " That which you have been blind" she whispered. " Yes, tell me. Why is Potter so determined to destroy me? Why in fact are any of the members of the Order so determined to destroy me? Its not simply because they want me dead or even because I in someway harmed them or someone they know. After all if the Order consisted of those who I have harmed it would be far larger. No Harry Potter, his school friends and the Order all challenge me because of one thing and one thing only. Dumbledore. Some of them in fact owe Dumbledore debts that can never be repaid. Dumbledore has created a resistance, an army ,if you will, that is loyal entirely to him. And in the event of his demise, to Harry Potter. " Forgive me my Lord but how does this help us to destroy them" Dolohov. " Because now I see how deeply Harry Potters regard for Dumbledore runs. My time within his mind has revealed much to me but never more than tonight. His beliefs, code of honor his motif for opposing me all stem from Dumbledore. And not just Potter. His students idolize him. His employees and the Order all see him as an almost god like being. " _Indeed the old bastard and I are far more alike than I thought. His method of control is not so different from my now that I know this, I have all I need to destroy him. A god after all is only as powerful as those that worship him"_ Voldemort thought. " **Listen all of you** , we are going to be changing tactics from now on. Dolohov, Bellatrix I want you to go to Germany, to a great fortress called Nurengard. Bring back the man imprisoned there, and be sure he arrives alive and unharmed. I will be far less forgiving than I was tonight if you should fail this mission" Voldemort commanded. " Yes my Lord" they replied. " Yaxley I want you to put your connections to use. Find out everything you can about Dumbledore that hasn't been published in a newspaper. And Narcissa come here" the Dark Lord instructed. Narcissa quickly complied. " Yes my Lord" she whispered. " Your husband has failed me yet again, but I'm giving you and your son a chance to redeem him". Hope spread across Narcissa's face. " What is it you wish us to do my Lord. Whatever it is we will accomplish it" she assured. " Excellent, next year when Draco returns to school, I want him to watch Potter very carefully. I want to know everything. Where he goes, what he does, who he speaks to. Everything. What students are loyal to him. Which ones outside of ,Slytherin house, dislike him or have reason to mistrust him. I want every little thing about Potters life dissected. And above all else, if he leaves the school I want to know about it. And when he does leave the school I want you to follow him and see where he goes. Don't confront him or reveal yourself. Watch and observe. Do this and all will be forgiven with Lucius" said Voldemort. " Yes my Lord, you have my word that we will not fail" Narcissa said most earnestly. " See that you don't " he threatened.

As for the rest of you return to our old allies. The dementors, giants, werewolves, surviving descendants of the old families. Anyone and everyone who has reason to resent Dumbledore, the Ministry, the Order of the Phoenix or all three. Build me an army unlike any that has ever been or will ever be. But do it quietly. I've revealed myself quite spectacularly but now I want the magical world tense and afraid. Waiting for my next move like a child waiting for the strap. NOW OUT ALL OF YOU. AND DO NOT FAIL ME! In an instant the room was cleared. Voldemort sat back contentedly. An eerie smile graces his face. _Soon_ he thought _Soon Dumbledore and Potter boy will be no threat to me, for now all I need do is wait._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Again this is a work of fiction. I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

 **Chapter 1: The Argument**

 _Rufus Scrimgeour POV_

Rufus Scrimgeour was not a patient man. Nor a particularly kind or compassionate one. But he liked to think he was shrewd, analytical and possessed above average intelligence. And yet to hear Dumbledore you'd think he was speaking to a particularly recalcitrant child.

" So let me see if I understand you correctly Professor, you want me to implement safety measures as you see fit. Combat this catastrophe as you would have it done. Dismiss Dolores Umbridge for heinous crimes that none of your students reported, and you want me to do all of this on your say so, and without receiving anything in return." he clarified.

" Thats not what Im saying at all, I'm merely pointing ou-" said Dumbledore

" Oh well that's good news, you see there for a moment I thought that **you** were the actually the Minister for Magic rather than the Headmaster of Hogwarts. " Scrimgeour snapped. Dumbledore sighed with exasperation. " I'm merely pointing out that you are making the same mistakes as your predecessor " he said. " You mean not doing what you say, when exactly when you say it. It may have escaped your notice Professor, but I am no longer a student, and as such have no reason to simply do as I'm told. Though as people so constantly like to remind me, if you desired to be Minister for Magic you could easily do so and rid yourself of the headache of trying to control the Ministry from the sidelines." Scrimgeour replied. " As you well know I have no desire to be Minister, howev-" said Dumbledore

" Well then Im afraid you'll have to resign yourself to being the Headmaster of Hogwarts, which as you and your students went to such great lengths to prove last year, has nothing to do with politics." Shaking his head with frustration Dumbledore said " You always were such a terribly stubborn boy Rufus, even as a student you rebelled against any authority". _Humph, the only authority I rebelled against was yours you old fart, God talking to him is like playing a game of riddles_ Scrimgeour thought. " Let me make something clear Dumbledore. If the point your trying to make is that Fudge was and idiot, who let his fear of the Dark Lord blind him to the danger I agree. If you think that his foolishness has caused people to think the Ministry completely inept. Again I completely agree. However I am not Fudge and don't intend to be. You see unlike Fudge I don't give a damn if you walk into the Wizengamot right now and demand to be made Minister. By all means the title is yours and I wish you the best. But if you want the power to fight this war as you see fit, then be honest about it. Don't hide behind your benevolent old man routine, and try to conjole me into doing what you want. That didn't work in school, it didn't work during the First War and it's certainly not going to work now" Scrimgeour sneered.

For the first time Dumbledore's eyes lost their twinkle. His body tensed with anger. _Made you angry have I?_ Scrimgeour thought. His voice steely but soft Dumbledore replied " Very well, I had hoped to conduct this conversation in a civilized manner as allies, however if you insist on more archaic means"

" If by archaic you mean no nonsense and to the point, then yes". Continuing as if Scrimgeour had not spoke Dumbledore said " You know as well as I that when Voldemort rises again there will be a blood bath, a show of strength to frighten to public into submission. He murdered an entire family last time and displayed their bodies for all to see. This time he will be even more brutal. You must inform the public of everything you know." " And cause a massive panic? You think the whole world is made up of people like us. Who can remain calm in the face of adversity. The sad fact however is that the world is full of people like Fudge. If the general public knew everything that would descend into chaos. It would be just like before neighbors turning on each other, people constantly looking behind their backs, tense as a pack of gazelles waiting to be devoured. And thats how the Dark Lord liked it. When people are tense and afraid they do things they wouldn't normally do. Its the perfect environment to either gain new followers or frighten people into submission" Scrimgeour reasoned. " Yes but that doesn't justify lying to, the dementors will turn over to him, they won't be able to resist the temptation, and that means that Azkaban is not secure any longer " said Dumbledore. " And just where do you expect me to find the witches and wizards to guard Azkaban themselves. All the Ministry employees are being stretched thin as it is. And as for the lying to the public, thats rich coming from you. As I mentioned earlier, you seem to expect me to do precisely what you say without giving me any information in return. You know more about Voldemort than anyone, and yet you tell almost no one what you know. Yet you want me to trust what you say and that you know what you are doing. Forgive me, but I'm not prepared to risk the safety of everyone in Britain on the whim of an old man who overestimates himself"Scrimgeour said coldly. For a moment the room was silent. Dumbledores face had lost all of its previous gentleness. It was now replaced with nothing short anger and contempt. Rising from his chair he said" You fool Rufus. Your pride will be your downfall". " The same could be said of you Professor. I guess we'll just have to wait and see who's still alive when this is all over" said Scrimgeour. " The Dark Lord will seize control of the Ministry, and when he does you will not be spared." Dumbledore said with finality. " Perhaps, but then if theres one thing I learned from the last war is that the Dark Lord never does precisely what you expect him to. Before you crow too loudly Dumbledore, you better make sure that your plan, whatever it is, is fool proof. Because if it isn't, you may find your loyal followers as fickle as the rest of the world." Scrimgeour. Walking toward's the door with a sense of resignation, Dumbledore said " No matter what you may think of me, no matter what you may think of prophecy, Harry Potter is our greatest hope.". And with that Dumbledore was gone. _That doesn't mean he is our only hope you old fool. Didn't he understand that by labeling the boy as the only hope, he will leave the world in something of a predicament if Harry Potter turns out to be no more threatening than the average 16 year old. Still the public seems to believe in him. It might be to my advantage to get him on my side. He might even be able to tell me something of Dumbledore's plans. Anything that might make this situation less ominous._

 **The next chapter will be from Dumbledore's point of view. Please review and tell me what you think.**


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